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09:21

Freemium apps driving mobile ad growth

A new report from App Annie (http://www.appannie.com), an app market data analysis firm, and the International Data Corporation (www.idc.com) research group says mobile app revenues are beginning to displace other forms of monetization, including mobile browser and PC-based advertising. What's more, freemium and in-app advertising models driving the majority of growth among various business models.

"App Annie has tracked the growth of the mobile economy since its infancy, and we're really starting to see publishers hit their stride with mobile in-app revenue growing 1.7x last year," says App Annie CEO Bertrand Schmitt. "The continued innovation in mobile apps, monetization models and mobile advertising have driven significant growth in freemium and in-app advertising revenues. The space has matured significantly and publishers have the required ‘know-how...

Quark Software says QuarkXPress 2015, the next major version of Quark’s design and layout tool for print and digital publishing, will be available on April 28.

The company says QuarkXPress 2015 will deliver increased performance with a new 64-bit architecture, efficient print and digital production and many of the most user-requested features. The new version of QuarkXPress will continue to be sold as a perpetual license.

Features include: 64-bit performance; verified PDF/X-4 output; larger page sizes, a dedicated orthogonal line tool;l fixed layout interactive ebooks; custom paper sizes; the ability to relink any picture in the usage dialog; the ability to collect for output for a complete project; user-definable shortcut keys on the Mac; tablet styles; a format painter; automatic footnotes and end notes; a faster table tool for Excel integration with table styles; text variables for automatically populating reoccurring fields – such as running headers; and more....

Adobe has released Adobe Comp CC, a free iPad app that enables the rapid creation of layout concepts for mobile, Web and print projects. It's available at the Apple App Store.

With Comp CC, designers can start layout-design projects on an Apple tablet, creating concepts that incorporate previously created assets and then move to the desktop where essential Adobe Creative Cloud tools, including Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC and InDesign CC, can be used to create production-quality work.

Comp CC extends the mobile and desktop workflows enabled by Creative Profile and Creative Cloud Libraries. Creative Cloud Libraries consist of design assets — such as images, colors, text styles, brushes and more — that members have created with Creative Cloud tools. And a member’s Creative Profile surfaces their libraries, as they move from app-to-app and desktop-to-device, in the right context — enabling members to effortlessly work across devices and apps.

Seventy-two of Fuddruckers (http://www.fuddruckers.com) company-owned fast casual restaurants throughout the country are now accepting Apple Pay, a new category of service that transforms mobile payments with an easy, secure and private way to pay.

Apple announced Apple Pay in September 2014, describing it as “a new category of service designed to transform mobile payments with an easy, secure and private way to pay.” It works with the iPhone 6 and...

Haha Interactive has released GoodTask 2 (http://goodtaskapp.com/mac), an update to their to-do/task manager application for Mac OS X.

GoodTask works on top of Apple's stock Reminders app. Completely re-imagined to fully feature Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite, GoodTask 2 has been rebuilt from the ground to make it more powerful with better usability, according to the folks at Haha.

GoodTask 2 is a free update for existing users and is now on sale at 25% off for a limited time: US$14.99 instead of $19.99). It's available worldwide through the Mac App Store in the Productivity category. It is a free update for existing users.

Micron Technology (www.micron.com) and Intel (www.intel.com) have announced the availability of their 3D NAND technology, the world's highest-density flash memory.

This new 3D NAND technology, which was jointly developed by the two companies, stacks layers of data storage cells vertically with "extraordinary precision" to create storage devices with three times higher capacity than competing NAND technologies. This enables more storage in a smaller space, bringing significant cost savings, low power usage and high performance to a range of mobile consumer devices as well as the most demanding enterprise deployments, says Brian Shirley, vice president of Memory Technology and Solutions at Micron Technology.

Synium Software has announced CleanApp 5 (http://www.syniumsoftware.com/cleanapp/), an update to their uninstaller and system maintenance tool for Mac OS X. Version 5 has been rewritten from scratch and features a new user interface, improved usability and enhanced algorithms to reclaim disk space.

CleanApp 5 requires OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. It's a free update for customers of CleanApp 4. There's a reduced upgrade pricing of US$4.99 for those using CleanApp 1, 2 or 3. The full version of CleanApp 5 costs US$14.99.

Paragon Software Group has announced Paragon Boot Camp Backup, a free Mac OS X based backup solution for Windows partitions on Mac computers.

It includes incremental imaging, file-level recovery, a scheduler, the ability to restore to a smaller target disk, automatic check of file system for errors, and more. For a 100GB volume and 22 GB of occupied space, it takes only 12 minutes to back up and 15 minutes to restore the entire system, according to the folks at Paragon.

The backup tools delivered with Mac OS X don't support the Windows native file system NTFS and work on the file level only which has a negative effect on computer performance. Paragon Boot Camp Backup backs up NTFS Boot Camp partitions at the sector level. It creates incremental chains, where each new increment describes the changes between the current state of the backup object and the previous state. Paragon says this saves disk space, speeds backups, and allows recovery to a particular point in...

AudioBooktoMP3.com has announced Audiobook Converter for Mac 3.8.1, an update of the audiobook DRM removal software for Mac.

The utility is designed to help users remove DRM protection from iTunes M4B audiobooks and Audible AA, AAX audiobooks while while converting the DRM M4B, M4A, AA, AAX audiobook files to unprotected MP3, AAC, M4A, AIFF, AU, M4R and FLAC. It now supports batch audiobook conversion so that you can convert multiple audiobooks with a single button.

IK Multimedia has revved SampleTank (www.sampletank.com), its sample workstation, to version 3.5 has just received a major update in the form of version 3.5.

The update consists of 11 brand new sound collections, which are now also available in IK's new SampleTank Custom Shop. Also introduced are new features that make browsing SampleTank 3's thousands of sounds and patterns faster.

SampleTank 3 sports a 33GB library of "bread-and-butter" sounds (with over 4,000 instruments from every category), 55 effects, MIDI patterns, groove tools and an enhanced sample engine. The latest update is complimentary for current users of all existing SampleTank 3 versions. SampleTank 3 and SampleTank 3 SE users can purchase the new Beats Series and Elektronika Series sound libraries from the IK online store for $39.99 each or 50 Gear Credits in the IK Custom Shop.

It provides teachers, students, and parents with Earth science content about rocks and the rock cycle. Photographs of rocks and their environments plus animations are designed to help students visualize the processes that change Earth over time. Scored quizzes and essay questions are included to encourage exploration, independent study, and written communication.

Users can use what they've learned about composition, texture, and color to identify rocks. Animations show the geologic processes in action: volcanic eruptions, flowing lava, weathering of rocks, streams transporting sediment, glaciers moving, caverns being formed by water, rocks being deformed by intense heat and pressure deep underground.

Investigators now have a unique tool that leverages Passware's research in live-memory analysis for over-the-air acquisition of Apple Photo Stream contents without an Apple ID or password.

Passware — a provider of password recovery, decryption, and electronic evidence discovery software for computer forensics, law enforcement organizations, government agencies, and private investigators — has announced version 2 of its flagship encrypted electronic evidence discovery product, Passware Kit Forensic 2015. This new release now acquires suspects' iPhone and iPad photos without Apple ID or password, provided the physical access to the computer with iCloud application installed.

According to Apple, "Your new photos appear automatically on the iOS devices, computers, and Apple TV you set up with My Photo Stream, no matter which iOS device or computer you use to take or import new photos." This also concerns shared photo stream where photos and videos of trusted contacts are...

Version 2.0 provides improvements to further enhance results and reduce time required to obtain them. In particular, the improved edge feathering algorithm plus the "Offset Boundary" option allow for neater and more precise contours of the cut out object. The "Shadow" option applies a transparent shadow to the picture. A new interactive processing mode optionally allows applying all changes to the image in real time.

The price for a single license of PhotoScissors is US$19.99. PhotoScissors is available both for Mac OS X and Windows users.

Splice is designed for professional and amateur video content creators who need a simple tool for organizing and joining a collection of video clips together into a single movie. Version 2.3.1 introduces enhanced full screen support, tighter integration with the User Notification Center, improved progress reporting and better error handling.

Splice 2.3.1 is available for US$9.99 from the Mac App Store (in the Video category). It requires Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite or higher.

St. Clair Software (http://www.stclairsoft.com/) has introduced an update for App Tamer, its Mac utility that manages applications to deliver more efficient CPU usage, increased battery life and quieter operation.

App Tamer's AutoStop capability automatically slows down or pauses applications when you switch away from them, and then restarts them when you click back to them. Version 2.0.5 fixes a compatibility issue with Safari and improves its user interface and usability.

App Tamer now offers its CPU history graph with a logarithmic scale. This mode shows much more detail when CPU usage is a lower percentage of total capacity, a common occurrence on 8- and 16-core Macs

App Tamer comes pre-configured to automatically manage Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Spotlight, Time Machine, Word and other apps when they're in the background. Customizing it for other applications is just a mouse click...

Bayhoff Software (http://www.bayhoff.com) has introduced CircleIcons 1.0 for OS X, a new app designed to make it easy for developers to create "circle icons" for their iPhone, iPad, Mac, and WatchKit apps without the need to hire a graphic designer.

Developers can choose between three icon types, including App, Document and Folder, as well as numerous color collections or even resize pre-existing icons. They can export an icon as a Xcode asset catalog, favicon, App Store icon and more.

CircleIcons 1.0 requires OS X 10.10 Yosemite or later. It costs US$9.99 and is available exclusively through the Mac App Store in the Developer Tools category.

It's designed for those who want to take snapshots of anything displayed on their Mac. The screen capture tool can be used to make quick edits, upload screenshot to free cloud space and share image online. It provides image annotation, allowing you to add arrows, line, circle, text, highlight and more based on their needs.

Additionally, Apowersoft Mac Screenshot allows you to upload the screenshot to free cloud space provided by screenshot.net. Once it's uploaded, four image links are provided for sharing. Aside from the image uploading feature, it also supports saving as an image file to local disk in PNG, JPG, GIF, TIFF and BMP formats.

Apowersoft Mac Screenshot requires Mac OS 10.6 or above. It's priced at US$39.95 for a personal license and $99.95 for a commercial...

4DX Games has unleashed Weasel Woodpecker, their newest game title on Mac OS X, iOS, Android, PC, and Facebook platforms.

You can play the game for free on each platform. You've seen the already iconic photo of a weasel riding on a woodpeckers back. Now you can re-enact the photo by becoming a weasel, trying to hitch a ride from the unsuspecting woodpecker. You soar through the skies, dodging trees and collecting acorns.

Weasel Woodpecker consists of randomly generated levels. The gameplay follows the "simple to control, hard to master" ideology. You start by controlling the weasel. By timing your jump correctly, the weasel lands on the woodpecker's back. Once you've managed to hitch a ride, you control the woodpecker, avoiding obstacles and collecting acorns along the way. When you see a ledge at the end of the level, you will need to jump off. Be careful not to miss the platform.

Weasel Woodpecker is available at the Mac App Store and the Apple App Store....

InspectorPro 5 analyzes solutions built on the FileMaker Platform 12 or 13, and is available now for Mac OS X 10.7 or later, and Windows 7, 8 or later. FileMaker Pro Advanced is required for a developer to generate the DDR (Database Design Report) to be used for analysis.

InspectorPro 5 is priced at US$495 for new customers, and is available for purchase and immediate download from Beezwax online. A Team License (for up to...

AKVIS has released AKVIS Points 1.0 for Mac OS X and Windows. It turns images into pointillism paintings. This painting technique is characterized by applying of separate brush strokes in the form of dots or spots.

A complex hue is decomposed into individual colors, which are displayed on the canvas as dotted strokes, small dabs of paint of pure color. The optical mixing of these dots provides a visual perception of an entire painting.

The software runs on Mac OS X 10.6 and higher Windows XP/Vista/Win7/Win 8 and on Mac OS X 10.6-10.10. It is available as a standalone program and as a plugin filter for Adobe Photoshop, Corel PaintShop Pro, and other image editors.

AKVIS Points, Home license, sells for US$49. The functionality of the program depends on the license type. Consult the official website (http://akvis.com/en/points/index.php) for more details about license...

Designed exclusively for OS X Yosemite, Fantastical 2 for Mac includes features such as a full calendar window (with day, week, month, and year views), an intuitive parsing engine, iCloud reminders support, light theme, time zone support, birthday reminders, and more. The upgrade sports a new design and includes OS X Yosemite features, including a Today Widget, Action & Share Extensions, plus Handoff support to provide continuity between Fantastical 2 for Mac, Fantastical 2 for iPhone, and Fantastical 2 for iPad.

iCloud Reminders are even better as users can now see their events and dated reminders together in the main list. Reminders can be quickly created by starting sentences with "reminder", "todo", "task", or "remind me to." Users can also add dates, times, and...

Sky Battles features bi-planes and giant titan bosses like krakens, sea monsters and fire breathing dragons to name a few. It also includes a multiplayer mode allowing players to engage in online dogfights.

Sky Battles includes a multiplayer mode allowing players to engage in online dogfights. Steam achievements and leader boards have been implemented to complement the gaming experience.

Most noteworthy in the 2015 report is the lead Amazon has claimed over the competition. With a higher reliability score than the rest of the manufacturers combined, Amazon holds the top rank. The manufacturer even surpassed well-known names in reliability like Apple and Samsung this year. Amazon’s “A+” grade is due in large part to focusing on one product: the Kindle tablets.

Still, both Samsung and Apple have impressive reliability grades of “A-” for 2015. In fact, these long time contenders for the number one spot almost tied in reliability score. Samsung managed to gain a narrow lead over Apple. The full list of rankings is explained in-depth in the 2015 Computer Reliability Report (http://tinyurl.com/pg4gs2r).

Zevrix Solutions (www.zevrix.com) has announced PDF Checkpoint 1.7.7, a maintenance update to their PDF preflight and conversion solution.

The app automatically preflights, exports as images, splits and optimizes Adobe PDF files. The software can also convert the color of PDF colors, downsample resolution and compress images. The new version lets users preflight PDF documents created with LibreOffice as well as files that underwent GhostScript conversion.

PDF Checkpoint 1.7.7 can be purchased on the Mac App Store and Zevrix website for US$39.95, as well as from authorized resellers. The update is free to licensed users. A demo is available for download. PDF Checkpoint requires Mac OS X 10.7 or higher.

Smile has released PDFpenPro 7.1 and PDFpen 7.1, the latest version of its all-purpose PDF editing tool for the Mac. This version brings advanced page numbering options, including control over font, color, formatting, and page range.

PDFpen also allows for the creation of custom stamps, including dynamic stamps with the user’s name and the date the document is stamped. There are also a series of new additional stamps to choose from, such as Paid, Faxed, Copied, and more.

OCR is easier with new auto-deskew, which straightens the text of a scanned document, necessary for accurate OCR results. The German localization has been improved in version 7.1, as has VoiceOver support in forms.

PDFpen retails for US$74.95, and PDFpenPro for $124.95. Family pack licenses, which cover up to five computers in one household, are $94.95 for PDFpen and $149.95 for PDFpenPro. Office pack licenses start at $224.95 for PDFpen (five users) and $349.95 for PDFpenPro (five users)....

Pie In The Sky: A Pizza Odyssey 1.0
Device: iOS Universal
Category: Games
Price: $2.99, Version: 1.0 (iTunes)
Description:
A game about delivering pizza. In space.
| Read more »

Chosen Gives Hopeful Singers, Songwriter...

If YouTube videos and reality TV shows like The Voice have taught us one thing, it’s that there are a lot of people out there who are anxious to show the world their talents. And if they’ve taught us a second thing, it’s that there’s an almost equally sizable group of people who are anxious to judge those hopefuls. What’s interesting about Chosen... | Read more »

Android's Popular OfficeSuite Now A...

Once only available for Android devices, OfficeSuite has finally landed on the app store. The Mobile Systems app lets you view, edit, create, and share Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents as well as convert them to/from PDFs. It's touted as being like having a desktop on your phone. OfficeSuite supports Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, OneDrive, and... | Read more »

Warhammer: Arcane Magic is Coming Soon,...

Turbo Tape Games has announced that they're joining forces with Games Workshop to bring the turn-based strategy board game, Warhammer: Arcane Magic, to life on the iOS.
| Read more »

Fast & Furious: Legacy's Creati...

| Read more »

N-Fusion and 505's Ember is Totally...

| Read more »

These are All the Apple Watch Apps and G...

The Apple Watch is less than a month from hitting store shelves, and once you get your hands on it you're probably going to want some apps and games to install. Fear not! We've compiled a list of all the Apple Watch apps and games we've been able to find so far.
Games
Rules!
By TheCodingMonkeys
App Store Description:
RULES! is a cute puzzle game... | Read more »

Appy to Have Known You - Lee Hamlet Look...

Being at 148Apps these past 2 years has been an awesome experience that has taught me a great deal, and working with such a great team has been a privilege. Thank you to Rob Rich, and to both Rob LeFebvre and Jeff Scott before him, for helping me to grow as a writer and for giving me the opportunity to write about what I love: playing innovative... | Read more »

Hands-On With Allstar Heroes - A Promisi...

Let’s get this out of the way quickly. Allstar Heroes looks a lot like a certain other recent action RPG release, but it turns out that while it’s not yet available here, Allstar Heroes has been around for much longer than that other title. Now that copyright row is out of the way, I can say that Allstar Heroes seems pretty fun.
It’s not out here... | Read more »

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